Heart of Stone
by emeraldtryst
Summary: An irritable man is cast into another world and chased by one of the "dangerous" predatory monsters that resides within it. A short story based loosely upon the material in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.


"Hey! That's my bag!"

The shout came from a rather average-looking man named Alexander. Weeks of wandering uninhabited badlands and months before that spent lost in the desert had decimated any thoughts of social graces. Alexander was certainly in no mood to yield his hard-won provisions to the curiosity of this invader, of his camp and of his brooding peace of mind.

Rifling through a worn cloth satchel and wearing a quickly manifesting guilty look at being caught, was Christina, a girl that any right pair of eyes could recognize was not entirely human. Toned and slender, she wore clothing that did little more than tantalize the lascivious imagination of any observer that could be so enticed, with spare strips of leather lashed taut over generous feminine assets. Her long sable hair fell across her tanned, lithely crafted shoulders in loose ringlets, spilling like a charcoal waterfall from a high ponytail atop her head.

A salamander, or like enough the lizard for the name to stick.

Challenging the pedestrian mind's tendency to fill in the blanks on how the rest of her might have appeared were patches of crimson scales that covered her forearms and her legs below the knee, those limbs tipped with fierce claws. Finishing her biologically inhuman ensemble was a tail that swung heavy behind her, alight in a never-dying flame.

With no small amount of hard-won skill, Alexander had fought off many similarly inhuman denizens of this strange world since his arrival months ago. This girl was certainly _larger_ than any of those he'd bested to that point, but his trials had had been a far less generous mistress, leaving him as unyielding as a coffin nail. He'd throw himself into a canyon before he'd cede his spoils to any of the lust-addled natives he'd encountered.

Alexander's indignant shout, to his mind, was fair enough warning that his next message would be delivered with far more force, and a great deal more steel.

When his shouted warning earned curious regard instead of the craven retreat he felt it demanded, Alexander didn't hesitate to prepare his second warning. Brandishing a scavenged broadsword and a battered wooden shield, Alexander charged the intruder with his shield held up before him.

Turning inquisitiveness to a joyfully impetuous martial invitation, the salamander smiled widely at his advance, the flames about her tail growing brighter and more fierce as if to welcome the assault.

Had the fight been any sort of fair, it was fairly obvious to Alexander that he'd have been dispatched in short order by the powerful strokes of Christina's skillfully-wielded warhammer. As it was, she'd been caught literally with her pants down, having stumbled upon this camp while relieving herself, and had been bowled over by Alexander's shield bash. Further complicating her situation was the sudden onset of weakness from something she'd eaten from the human's bag in the last few minutes.

Barely managing to stand and readjust her attire before receiving the brunt of Alexander's desperate swings, Christina's strength had weakened to such a degree that only a scant few minutes of holding off the human were more than her body could handle. Even while Alexander's strength flagged, a quick shield bash and a series of following strikes knocked the large hammer from Christina's grip while the following backhanded shield slam threw the girl onto her back.

"My mate...those...are poisonous," the salamander weakly offered before a final desperate smash from the human's shield knocked the girl unconscious.

Ready to pack up and leave before the girl came around, her tail still blazing with the cheerful light it had cast about during their short confrontation, Alexander nevertheless felt a swell of pity for the girl he'd dispatched.

"I know I'm going to regret this," he mumbled aloud before leaving a skin of water and bundle of fragrant herbs he'd discovered, as a peace offering of sorts, next to the unconscious lizard-girl.

With his conscience assuaged, Alexander took off into the nearby hills.

-

"Why don't you just stop running?! You're just going to be tired once I catch you, my love!" Christina called out across the gorge.

"You aren't my type!" he yelled back, exhausted and out of breath.

"Decide that after we're done!" She shouted in answer, seductively running her hands down her midsection to rest on her hips.

"I don't want to have sex with you!" Alexander protested, his inability to look away calling his honesty into question.

Giggling at her chosen mate's reluctance, Christina called back, "Liar. You wouldn't have fought so hard if that was true~"

"You're impossible!" the man gruffly asserted as he began running again.

"Just as soon as I catch you, you'll find out how wrong you are about _that_ , lover."

To his own mixed, wry satisfaction, Alexander had been absolutely correct in his supposition that he'd regret helping the girl. Her inhuman constitution had allowed her to heal quickly and he'd been just barely keeping ahead of her pursuit for several days. She moved quickly enough that it seemed odd that she hadn't already caught him, but Alexander wasn't about to look fate's gift horse in the mouth.

No matter how hard he pushed to widen the gap between them, Christina was relentless. His misguided thoughts to simply hide dashed to pieces by Christina's melodious voice cooing out playful taunts and pet names. It wasn't until after a full week of pursuit that Alexander simply couldn't take any more, his body giving out as he collapsed onto the unforgiving rock of the foothills in which he'd been fleeing.

Alexander had sworn to himself that he would only rest until he was able to move again, but that promise did little for him as his pursuer showed up within an hour of his inglorious collapse.

"Caught you, my delicious love ember~" the barely-winded salamander teased as she looked down at her quarry.

Every creature he'd fought off until this point had been trying to get a piece of his body. He found it surpassingly unnerving, and had resolved that, no matter the stakes, he'd never lie down for one of these inhuman monsters.

A desire to remain untainted by her inhuman touch, Alexander rode a wave of energy to his feet, his weapon leaping to his hand with the speed of a striking serpent.

His perfect defensive stance, however, was dismantled as easily as if Christina had been using him to demonstrate what _not_ to do when confronting a salamander. Continuing her educational performance, the scaled girl used his shield as leverage and twisted his arm up behind his back.

"Let...me...go!" Alexander howled as he tried to find a scaly home for the point of his weapon.

Pulling the wriggling man against her, Christina gripped Alexander's flailing sword arm and forced it down the front of the man, cleaving through his clothes with a giggle.

Christina then took a step back, and with a forceful tug, liberated her quarry from his weapons and his clothing at once. "There we go. You're free, my mate!"

Suddenly struck by a powerful curiosity on why porn stars seemed so fond of wearing shoes while performing, Alexander shook that thought from his mind and yelled at his attacker, "You bitch! Give me back my sword!"

Unceremoniously tossing the sundered clothing into a pile along with his weapons, Christina threw her arms wide in challenge. "I was thinking about grappling this time." Doffing her own clothing in a flash, she continued with a smirk, "Oh, but I see you still have a sword quite eager to run me through."

Blushing angrily, Alexander took a step back and looked away. "That's just-"

Trumping any attempt to react appropriately, Christina threw herself onto the unintentionally aroused man and held his arms against the ground. With a wolfish smile, she leaned in to whisper in Alexander's ear, "Quite the impressive zweihänder you've got there. Could any woman hope to try defend herself against it? Oooh, I can tell that it won't rest until it has my blood."

"No, I won't just-w-wait just a-" Alexander tried to protest as Christina threw herself against his formidable guard.

Alexander's sharp intake of breath was drowned out by the momentary chirp of pain that escaped from his opponent. Any impulses that tried to make their way to his brain to deliver any realizations about that sound were buried, however, in the charge of his physical sensation being forcefully brought forward.

The bonfire of Christina's burning tail blanched before the heat that was her enveloping sex as it engulfed Alexander. Relentless in her descent upon the struggling man, Christina admirably received his attack until he could be driven no further.

"Just as your...mmm...sword promised, you've drawn first blood. But this duel is far from over, my mate. You've taken my essence, but I will have yours now," Christina said through clenched teeth as she loosed a small moan, her form ascending atop the man.

Of two minds on the battle at hand, Alexander's opinion was torn between wanting her to continue, and not wanting her to stop.

Mustering his willpower, Alexander took a deep breath to voice his protest just as the salamander's velvet walls captured him again on her descent, his argument coming out as perfectly as his mind could manage. "Hnnng!"

Continuing her assault upon Alexander's defenses, Christina captured his slackened lips in her own and rolled her feminine hips like a wave, her tongue thrashing about with his like an angered sea serpent as his fleet was dashed repeatedly upon the silken shores of her fleshy harbor.

"Oooh, that's so _good_ , my mate." Christina's skin flushed a crimson that might have made her scales jealous as she began to force herself down upon Alexander, his resolve weakening even as his weapon grew more fiercely determined. "But I can _feel_ you crumbling. Why...mmm...resist when...hah...it would be so much easier to let go?"

Alexander answered with an angry tirade, clearly outlining everything that was wrong with this situation. He nodded in satisfaction as his opponent ceased her assault and left him in peace.

Moments later, reality amusingly reasserted itself as his fantasy shattered along with what was left of his resolve.

"N-no...I can't-" He muttered, his last words before being fully overcome.

With his hands still held fast to the ground, Alexander could only cry out and squirm in futility as his white flag of surrender was carried gleefully into his enemy's camp.

Feeling the powerful twitching spasms of Alexander's engorged weapon and the scalding warmth of his essence now pouring into her, Christina's eyes lit up in surprised joy before seductively narrowing again, the pace of her thrusting not waning in the slightest.

"Ahh!" she moaned as she continued to drive herself down onto his firmness. She leaned forward, pressing her large breasts against him as she whispered in his ear, desperately trying to keep her breathing calm enough to speak, "I've won the...second round, but...hnnn...maybe you can...ohh...win the third...or fourth...or-"

Finally brought to her own limit, Christina screamed out as her climax overwhelmed her. Throwing herself more tightly against her defeated opponent, her back arched and her powerful body tensed as she thoroughly and mercilessly wrung Alexander's essence from him.

Now desperate for a reprieve from the increasing agony of Christina's movements, Alexander saw a ray of light shine down upon him as the salamander finally began to slow her pace. That moment of exultant jubilation, however, was but a cruel tease as he was shut back into the dark when the lust-ridden salamander renewed her attack with gusto.

For hours beyond counting, Alexander remained pinned to the ground pointlessly, his body long having lost the strength to resist. His attacker, however, found herself more and more pleased to see his helpless body beneath her, his each and every shuddering release feeling like an engraved invitation to continue.

Alexander was awakened the next morning by the sound of his sexual conqueror preparing breakfast about a small fire.

"Oh, you're awake! I hope I wasn't too rough with you yesterday but I figured a big, strong warrior like you could handle it," she offered with a giggle. "I don't know if you really enjoy wandering around like a nomad, but I'll take care of you from now on, my love."

Mustered what remained of his strength, Alexander bellowed up at the girl, "I can't believe you can even stand there and-Look...I don't love you, I don't want you, and just having you around annoys me! If you're so set on fucking whatever beats you, why don't you just go jump off a cliff and fuck the ground you land on after it breaks your legs!?"

A moment of palpable silence passed between the pair of them, the wind through the hills a mournfully whistling accompaniment to the man's shouted insult.

"O-oh…b-but I thought..." Christina answered simply. She paused a moment further, as if she would respond and then simply turned and headed down the hill into a large canyon, managing to hold her tears in check until she'd passed out of Alexander's sight.

Alexander rationalized his outburst with the flurry of things that had already gone wrong, convincing himself that this outcome was for the best.

That rationalization was challenged by a pang of guilt issuing forth from the first hot breakfast he'd seen in months, and his recently-mended clothes, folded neatly beside the bedroll upon which he'd be carefully laid.

-

Several days later, while Alexander continued to make his way through the hills unmolested. He came upon the reasonably welcome sight of another human that had made camp along an old, beaten road.

With a wave of welcome, the old man welcomed the weary Alexander into his small camp. Telling his story to the old man, Alexander found a sense of normalcy that he'd been missing, along with a companionship for which he'd been desperately hoping. Coming to the end of his tale, the man suddenly interrupted Alexander with a fearful look when he related to the old man about the canyon into which Christina had vanished.

"Not _that_ canyon! A spiteful gorgon lives down there. She'll kill your friend without a second thought!"

Alexander hesitated for several seconds before responding, "I...don't care. Were you even listening when I told you what she did to me?! I never had a moment of peace from the moment I met her."

Blinking in disbelief, the old man then looked like he was about to slug Alexander. "Are you blind or just stupid? These hills are crawling with werewolves, grizzlies, and more spiders than any other place in the world!"

"Fucking spiders…" Alexander mumbled under his breath, a shiver coming over him as he imagined that particular personal nightmare. After another few moments of thought, he added, "Well, I haven't seen any other monsters and I'd definitely remember if I'd seen any kind of spider."

The old man shook his head and turned away from Alexander, his path now apparently set to any place that was _not_ where Alexander intended to head. "So...stupid _and_ blind it is? Just so you know, there's a switchback just over that ridge that can get you down into the canyon."

Confused for another moment at the sudden change in the old man's attitude, Alexander finally realized the likely reason he hadn't encountered any of those monsters. It also explained why Christina seemed to vanish for hours at a time in her earlier pursuit of him.

He tried to shake off the creeping guilt at the thought of the amorous salamander continuing to protect him in secret, even after what he'd said to her.

Shrugging his shoulders in resignation, Alexander replied, "Why are you telling me this? She's probably already gone by now and its not like I can fight a gorgon."

Continuing on down the road without even a wave, the old man answered with finality. "Then I guess we're done here. I don't have time for cowards. You'll probably be a spider snack by the end of the day anyway."

Before the old man had gotten a full fifty meters away from him, Alexander called out, "It isn't possible! I wouldn't have a chance to beat a gorgon. If I knew there was a way-"

Turning back with a hint of a smile, the old man walked closer. "Oh? So you'd fight the gorgon to save your friend if you had a chance of winning?"

"O-of course!" Alexander asserted, with a half-hearted nod, hoping whatever the man might offer would be of use against any of the other monsters he'd be like to encounter.

"Then drink this," the old man said, producing a vial of roiling scarlet liquid and offering it to Alexander.

Looking dubiously at the nearly fuming mixture, Alexander reluctantly took the vial and asked, "What is this?"

"It's a vial," the old man said simply, adding, "Drink it or I'm done helping you."

Not at all willing to admit any feelings of guilt over his treatment of Christina, but suddenly hoping that the questionable mixture was a bottle of answers to his many human disadvantages should he encounter any other monsters, Alexander drank the vial at the old man's insistence. With every other description failing, Alexander settled on the authoritative decision that it tasted...red.

Expecting an obvious effect, Alexander reluctantly asked, "So, will this make me stronger or…?"

"Poison? I doubt it. It _will_ allow you to see through the gorgon's illusion, however," the old man remarked casually as his form changed to that of a smiling lamia with small snakes writhing in her hair.

"What?! You're-" Alexander sputtered, grasping his stomach in expectation of a coming painful effect.

Slithering away, the powerful monster looked back over her shoulder and flashed a devious smile. "Your friend is a statue in my garden now. You have until sundown to find her and offer the appropriate apology or my poison will petrify your arms and legs. After that, I'll invite every arachne within a thousand kilometers to sate themselves with your helpless body."

Coughing as he made several failed attempts to force himself to throw up the poison, Alexander shouted in fear at the snake-woman, "How will I even find her?! That canyon is massive!"

"Hmm, I suppose that is a good question. How did she find you all those times you lost her in the hills? When you love someone, you'll be drawn to them...or at least you'd better hope that's the case. You're burning daylight," she finished, slithering her way out of sight.

Still angry beyond measure and feeling the cold sting of helplessness creeping up his spine like the legs of the spiders he'd been promised, Alexander ran to the edge of the cliffs to find the treacherous path leading down into the canyon.

Upon reaching the floor of the deep canyon, Alexander felt that initial tingle of hopeless grow into a crushing glacier of despair.

Arrayed before him were thousands of gray, stone statues as far as the eye could see.

Nearly falling to his knees in helpless surrender, Alexander swallowed hard and began making his way through the garden of countless statues. The faces of the stone people bore expressions ranging from abject horror to surpassing pleasure, convincing the wayward human that they were all victims of the lamia he'd encountered.

Alexander searching frantically for hours, going far beyond what he thought his body could handle.

"This is all that damn salamander's fault," he mumbled to himself as his stamina waned. "If she wanted to travel with me, why couldn't she just ask me like a normal person?"

He thought of their initial fight, the taxing days of her pursuit, and the...incident that had transpired when she'd finally caught him. As badly as he wanted to hate everything about what had happened, he realized that running from the salamander had been the first task that had actually given him a purpose since he'd begun wandering.

Chuckling, Alexander realized that he hadn't even said a single word since finding himself in that desert months ago. Until he met that salamander, he doubted that he'd ever have a reason to speak again.

Startling the desperately weary Alexander was the sight of the sun's final rays of the day, the golden orb offering a final gift before a night of rest. As he took a look around at the statues that surrounded him now, he saw that they all bore looks of a forlorn sadness.

"Damn it," he remarked out loud, his voice leaving behind an oppressive silence that made him feel as though he was the last person alive.

He took and handful of wretched steps to reach the closest statue as fear and sorrow told hold upon him like a boot upon his throat as the sun passed below the horizon, the last statue still out of reach.

"Time is up," the slithering woman called out as she approached the despairing Alexander.

Sighing in a profound resignation, Alexander answered back, "Y-you're right….I'd never be able to find her among all these statues. I suppose I deserve whatever you want to do to me after what I said to her. I didn't even really mean it."

Having spent the entire day in a growing despair, he found with ironic amusement that he wished the salamander was still chasing him, or that he could at least tell her one last thing before his fate was sealed.

"So these will be your last words as a free man?" she asked, turning his trousers to stone with a glance, perhaps to further emphasize his predicament.

Alexander shrugged at the gesture, the fear now beaten out of him by the futility of his struggle. "My last words? Oh." He thought seriously for a moment before he nodded and answered with certainty, "Let her go. Tell her that my apology is something that couldn't be spoken, only shown."

Smiling slightly, the snake woman gestured to the statue only a handful of meters from Alexander. "And you were so close. She may be stone, but my magic guarantees that she can hear your words and feel your touch upon her. Let me see this apology."

Alexander buried his exhaustion and strode forward, his petrified trousers becoming a pile of dust as he moved toward the petrified figure before him.

Seeing the salamander that had pursued and claimed him so completely, Alexander hesitated as he realized that her face was frozen in sadness like so many of the others he had seen as he searched. At a loss for what else felt appropriate, he simply reached out and hugged the solid slab of stone, looking up into the saddened, lifeless eyes.

"You've probably been following me long enough to know that I'm an asshole, so you know I'm not going to apologize. But what the hell?! You let yourself be beaten by me again! I scream a few bitchy words and you run off in tears?"

Alexander stumbled over his words, poking the statue in the chest with an accusing finger before he continued. "Since I'm _not_ going to apologize, this is the best you're going to get from me. If you weren't stone and I wasn't about to spend the rest of my life balls-deep in spider...maybe I'd do more."

Blushing furiously as he realized he still had the lamia's undivided attention, Alexander leaned forward and kissed the cool stone lips of the petrified salamander, seeing a single tear escape from the stone as the stone grew warm.

With a muted flash, the petrification fell away and Christina threw her arms around Alexander, her lips happily returning his attempt at an apology as she returned his kiss for what felt like an eternity to the pair of them.

The kiss finally broken, Christina finally says "I was...going to find you later. I j-just heard a group of other mamono trying to sneak up on you so I...ran off to take care of them. So you've still only beaten me once."

"Oh…" Alexander managed, too shocked by the developing situation to call bullshit on the obvious lie. "I'm Alexander, by the way. You'd think you'd ask that before having sex with someone…"

"I'm Christina, and I figured you'd tell me over breakfast. But one defeat is enough, anyway! Oh, and you already took your pants off, just for me?"

"Uh...that was-" Alexander tried to protest, looking around for the lamia and seeing the entire canyon empty. Even the statues that had littered the ground appeared to have disappeared as though they'd never been there in the first place.

The pair of them heard what sounded like a distant laugh echoing lightly through the canyon, now bathed in moonlight.

"Don't worry, my darling mate, I'm going to give you at least a dozen chances to come out on top tonight. Even if you lose to me in every contest from now until the end of time, you'll never lose me."


End file.
